Season 1 (M*A*S*H)
The first episode of Season 1 of M*A*S*H, M*A*S*H the Pilot aired on CBS-TV on September 17, 1972; the final episode, Showtime aired on March 25, 1973. Major episodic events *Spearchucker Jones comes and goes, appearing in six episodes (first appearance: "M*A*S*H the Pilot" and last appearance: "I Hate a Mystery"). *Hawkeye Pierce is appointed chief surgeon over Frank Burns (episode: Chief Surgeon Who?) which is in fact legal in the military as long as they do a good job. *Tommy Gillis, a longtime friend of Hawkeye's, dies on his table (episode: Sometimes You Hear The Bullet). After that episode, the show would never be the same. Research notes/Fun facts *Season 1 is also the season where a large number of recurring supporting characters were tried out. Some were characters from the 1970 MASH film: Spearchucker Jones, Ugly John, Brigadier General Hammond, Father Mulcahy and Lieutenant Dish. Leslie Scorch was a hybrid of two characters, Captain Leslie and Lieutenant Wilma Scorch from the film as well. *Among the new supporting characters introduced were Margie Cutler, Barbara Bannerman, Nancy Griffin and Ginger Bayliss. *Almost all the supporting characters who were tried out came and then went with Season 1. Dish only appeared for two episodes. Leslie Scorch would reappear in Season 2 and then only for the first episode. Probably the producers did not want supporting characters to become too recognizable and distract from the main cast. Only around Season 5 would recognizable recurring supporting characters like Peggy Bigelow become a fixture. *Two successful supporting characters were Klinger (Jamie Farr) and Father Mulcahy (William Christopher). These two became regular recurring characters and eventually main cast members in later seasons. *''"Sticky Wicket"'' shows a hint of the relationship between Hawkeye and Margaret that would be further developed in later seasons. *Captain Jonathan S. Tuttle is introduced as Hawkeye's imaginary friend in the episode "Tuttle," where Hawkeye and Trapper send supplies to Sister Theresa's orphanage and credit him for it. As Tuttle is listed in the end credits as having played "himself", he has an entry in the Internet Movie Database. Season 1: (1972-1973) List of Episodes *This table is sortable and can present the episodes either in the order they were broadcast (click on the sort buttons in column "Ep.#") or in the order they were produced (click on the sort buttons in the column "Production No."). *The episodes were not all broadcast in the same order as they were produced. The broadcast order is also the order of episodes in the DVD set. However, syndicated reruns and paid streaming services such as Netflix sometimes follow the production order (e.g. J-301, J-302, J-303....). *In Season 1 there is a great disparity between the broadcast and production order. One can only speculate why this was the case. There is a discontinuity when watching the shows in broadcast order when it comes to the person of Henry Blake's boss. In the first two episodes, it is General Hammond (G. Wood) but then in the 3rd and 4th episodes it becomes General Barker (Sorrell Brooke). In episode 6 it is now General Clayton (Herb Voland) but flips back to Hammond again in episode 9. This discontinuity disappears when viewed in production order. The three Hammond episodes are together at the front, then the two Barkers and finally Clayton. Category:M*A*S*H TV series seasons